The Seed of the Woman and the Dragon

Revelation Chapter 12 begins a new section in Revelation 12:1 that continues to 15:4. It opens and ends with a great “sign in heaven.” Thus, “a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun and the moon beneath her feet.” And in Revelation 15:1 this literary unit closes when John “saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having seven plagues.”

The last section culminated in the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet at the end of the age. It signaled that the “kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ….and the fit time for the dead to be judged and to give their reward unto your servants, and to destroy them who were destroying the earth.”

The Tribulation of the Church in Revelation

The book of Revelation portrays followers of the Lamb in the great tribulation; John saw an “innumerable multitude” of men and women redeemed by the Lamb coming out of the tribulation (Revelation 7:14).

The term “tribulation” occurs five times in Revelation, each time used in relation to believers (Revelation 1:9, 2:9, 2:10, 2:22, 7:14). “Tribulation” is what the church endures, not the surrounding “inhabitants of the earth.”

Lion or Lamb?

Some church leaders claim that Jesus is moving today as the roaring “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” The meek “lamb of God” who sacrificed his life for the world is a thing of the past and he is looking for some serious payback.

A verse from the book of Revelation is cited to validate this interpretation. But its proponents misrepresent the passage and theology of Revelation. One brief phrase is read out of context: “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has prevailed to open the book and to open its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5).

The Missing Seventy Weeks

The prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks” from the book of Daniel is missing from the book of Revelation, a prophecy foundational to the chronologies and expectations of several leading prophetic schools of prophetic interpretation.

Redemption of the Nations

          The book of Revelation presents images that are jarring, paradoxical, and subversive. They challenge human wisdom and institutional interpretations of how God will consummate His kingdom, overthrow His enemies, and judge the nations. 
          The significance of these images is missed when we lose sight of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb who died to redeem humanity, not to destroy all but a tiny remnant of men and women. The clues are there but easily overlooked.

The Nicolaitans

          The second and third chapters of Revelation present seven messages from the Risen Christ to the seven churches of Asia. Each communicates Christ’s knowledge of its respective congregation’s situation. Faithfulness is commended, failures are laid bare and corrected, warnings are given to the unfaithful, and promises are made to all who faithfully persevere and thereby “overcome.”
          Several wayward groups and deceivers active within the congregations are named, specifically the “Nicolaitans” (2:6, 2:15), those who “have the teaching of Balaam” (2:14), and the “teachings of Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess” (2:20).